Sometimes people suggest ideas for me for topics to write about. I usually decline, because in junior high, I was the kid who ruined every group project he took part in.
I don't have the kind of brain that is suited for team work. There is no "I" in team, I tell people. That's it then, I say, there's no "I," so sayonara, team. My brain can't even handle the brain equivalent of relay races. My brain always drops the brain-baton, or manages to grasp it only to trip on its little brain-feet and land "squoosh" on its little brain-face. Ruining it for everyone else.
So the fact that I have agreed to write on a suggested topic this week can only mean one thing: I don't have any better idea, and I'm thinking, we can all get a laugh out of how badly it goes.
This week's topic: Everything we at Real Change will miss about Belltown, after we finish moving to our new offices in Pioneer Square. As usual, when I say "we at Real Change" I mean "me," and anyone who thinks like me. In other words: "me."
I'm going to miss all-night dining at Steve's Broiler, which was my introduction to Belltown back in the '80s. What a great idea, having restaurants open at 4 a.m., so that the people who clean the toilets of America can eat when they get off work. And, hey, does Seventh Avenue count? How 'bout that Doghouse?
I'm now being told by a small avian assistant that those do not exist anymore. So, never mind about them. Let's see, what else?
Well, of course I'll be missing the StreetLife Art Gallery at Second and Bell, where I painted during the entire Clinton Administration, achieving such artistic success that I could actually support myself on my earnings, so long as I had no rent to pay and didn't mind if my shoes leaked. It died, though, during Bush's first term, so never mind that either.
OK. I'm definitely going to miss the Speakeasy Caf